Hammer attachment



Jan. 5, 1965 T. M. BELGARD 3,164,178

HAMMER ATTACHMENT Filed June 8, 1961 Fig./

BY only 3M5 Truly M. Be/gara United States Patent 3,164,178 HAMMER ATTACHMENT Truly M. Belgard, Rt). Bond, Alexandria, La, assignor of two-thirds to .l. Harry Henderson, in, and Robert L. Roland, jointly, both of Alexandria, La.

Filed dune 8, 1961, Ser. No. 115,654

3 Claims. (Cl. 145-29) This invention relates to hardware, and more particularly to attachments for hammers for preventing hammer marks from marring and defacing the surface of a workpiece during use of the hammer.

Accordingly, it is the primary object of the invention to provide a resilient or flexible attachment for partially covering the head of a hammer so as to prevent the hammer head from ever contacting and disfiguring the workpiece. However, the attachment leaves sufficient area of the head uncovered for contacting a nail or other member being driven by the hammer.

It is still another object of the invention to provide a hammer head cover which has a rigid annular rein forcing ring therein of angular cross section so as to have direct contact with and encompass or enclose the annular edge of the hammer head so as to prevent this edge from having direct contact with and injuring or damaging the resilient material comprising the remainder of the cover.

Still another object of the invention is to provide an attachment for hammer heads which may be easily and rapidly removed and replaced without requiring any special tools or any unusual skill on the part of the operator.

It is yet another object of the invention to provide a resilient hammer head cover attachment which is reinforced with a metallic ring, the ring being in direct contact with the hammer head thereby not impairing the resilient nature or action of the remainder of the cover.

It is another object of the invention to provide an attachment for hammer heads which is simple in design, economical to manufacture, and extremely durable and reliable in use.

These together with other objects and advantages which will become subsequently apparent reside in the details of construction and operation as more fully hereinafter described and claimed, reference being had to the accompanying drawings forming a part hereof, wherein like numerals refer to like parts throughout, and in which:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view showing the cover attached on a conventional hammer;

FIGURE 2 is an enlarged cross sectional view taken substantially on the plane of lineZ-Z in FIGURE 1; and

FIGURE 3 is a perspective view showing the cover attachment removed from the hammer.

Referring to the drawings, it can be seen that the bootlike jacket or cover of the attachment ltl is shaped generally like a portion of a cone. The major portion of the cover is composed of some resilient or compressible material such as natural or synthetic rubber. The base 12 of the cover is of annular shape and has a central circular bore 14 formed therein. The upstanding walls 16 are of annular cross section and the outer surfaces 18 thereof slope so as to converge in an upward direction. Thus, the side wall portion 16 is shaped like a portion of a cone.

The inner surfaces 20 of the side wall portion 16 is also of conical shape, however, its opposite sides do not slope or converge together quite as sharply as the outer.

surfaces 18. Consequently, the inner and outer surfaces causes the base or bottom portion of the side wall 18 to be thicker than the top portion thereof, which is a desirable feature since morestress and strain are imposed on the bottom portion during use of the device.

"The upper circular edge of the conical side wall 16 marges into an integral upper annular wall 22. The upper annular wall 22 is also of generally conical shape, however, its outer and inner surfaces are generally parallel and converge in an upward direction at a greater rate or steeper angle than the surfaces of the wall portion 18. As can be seen by an inspection'of FIGURE 2, the upper wall 22 is quite thin and therefore relatively flexible and elastic. Also, the upper wall 22 preferably is slightly curved vertically so as to form a shallow annular groove 24.

An annular rigid ring 26, preferably formed of spring steel is molded into the bottom portion of the cover 10.

The upper and inner surfaces of the ring 26 are flush with the wall surfaces 20 an-dthe upper surfaces of the base portion 12. The ring 26 is composed of an annular head engaging plate 28 which is integrally secured to an annular sleeve 30 at its outer edge whereby the ring is of angular cross section.

The enclosing boot or cover 10 is designed to fit any conventional hammer 28 which may have a handle 34 secured to a neck 36 which supports a driving head 38. The neck 36 and head 38 may vary considerably in size, and still be adapted to be used with the cover 10. In use, it is only necessary to expand the upper wall 22 so as to spread it over the head 38 and then force the hammer downwardly against the upper surface of the annular plate 28. The reduced size of the upperwall 22, and its natural elasticity causes it to resiliently grip the neck 36 and maintain the cover in a centered position with respect to the head, even though the head may be considerably smaller than the inside diameter of the wall surface 20.

FIGURE 2 illustrates the use of the invention on a hammer when driving a nail 4% into the material 42 and 44 having a finished surface 46. The nail 40 is driven in a conventional manner into the material by the hammer 32 with the cover Ill installed thereon. When the nail is approximately driven, the bottom surface of the base 12 of the cover strikes the finished surface 46 thereby preventing further driving of the nail. Consequently, it is necessary to use a nail set in a conventional manner for driving the nail all completely into the material 42 and 44-. This absolutely insures that the finished surface 46 will not become marred by the hammer during driving of the nail. It is thus apparent that the attachment It) is particularly useful in driving nails in all types of finished carpentry work, for the use in assembling cabinets, in installing all types of prefinished Woods or panellings, or in driving nails into any material having a highly finished and easily damaged surface.

It is to be noted that the particular shape and location of the ring 26 highly improves the performance and use of the cover 10. By having the ring molded into the cover so that its upper surface engages the hammer head 38, damage to the rubber material during use of the device is prevented. Also, by having the upwardly extending flange 30 adjacent the hammer head, this prevents the relatively sharp lower annular corner edge of the hammer from cutting into the rubber material when the hammer is swung at an angle to the surface 46 and the base 12 is highly compressed between the head 28 and the surface 46. The annular plate 28 also distributes the shock and load from the head 38 to the base 12, this preventing damage thereto and preventing the head 38 from slipping through the aperture 14.

The foregoing is considered as illustrative'only of the principles of the invention. Further, since numerous modifications and changes will readily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limit the invention tions of a conventional-type hammer head, said cover embodying a compressibly resilient annular base having asubstantially fiat exterior surface adapted to be struck against a vulnerable work surface, and an interior flat surface with which the customary striking surface of sai hammer head is normallyin contact, and reinforcing and rigidifying means embedded in theinterior surface of said base and having an annular anvil-like rigid rnetal surface exposed for metal-to-metal contact with the striking surface of said head, the inner peripheral edge of said annular anvil-like surface being spaced radially outward from the inner peripheral edge of the annulus defining said annular base.

' 2. A. rubber boot-type attachment for the head and neck portions of a hammerhead comprising: a cornpressibly resilient annular base having a substantially fiat exterior surface adapted to be struck against a vulnerable Work surface, and an interior'flat surface with which the strikingsurface of the hammer head is normally in contact,. an elastic boot-like cover integral with the outer margin of said base adapted to grippingly engage peripheral surface portions of the aforementioned head and neck portions of said hammer head, and reinforcing and rigidifying means for said base comprising a ring, said ring being L-shaped in cross-section and made of steel and embodying a Washer-like annular anvil portion having inner and outer peripheral edge portions and bedded in the interior surface of said base, the outer peripheral edge having a laterally projecting integral endless flange, said flange being embodied in a cooperating portion of the aforementioned elastic boot-like cover, said anvil portion and also said flange having interior surfaces which are exposed for positive and direct contact with metal surfaces of the aforementioned head.

3. The structure defined in claim 2 and wherein the interior surface of the flange is flush with a cooperating interior surface of said cover and wherein the inner peripheral edge is spaced radially outward from the inner peripheral edge of the annular base, whereby an interior limited surface portion of said annular base proiec radially inward beyond said inner peripheral edge, the interior surface thereof being iiush with the exposed interior surface of said anvil portion.

References (Iited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 785,921 Springer Mar. 28, 1905 1,428,838 Davis Sept. 12, 1922 1,663,885 Lutch Mar. 27, 19 2:; 1,718,161 Lutch June 18, 1929 2,721,749 Crow Oct. 25, 1955 

1. A RUBBER BOOT-TYPE ATTACHMENT COMPRISING A COVER FOR ENCLOSING AN ATTACHMENT FOR THE HEAD AND NECK PORTIONS OF A CONVENTIONAL-TYPE HAMMER HEAD, SAID COVER EMBODYING A COMPRESSIBLY RESILIENT ANNULAR BASE HAVING A SUBSTANTIALLY FLAT EXTERIOR SURFACE ADAPTED TO BE STRUCK AGAINST A VULNERABLE WORK SURFACE, AND AN INTERIOR FLAT SURFACE WITH WHICH THE CUSTOMARY STRIKING SURFACE OF SAID HAMMER HEAD IS NORMALLY IN CONTACT, AND REINFORCING AND RIGIDIFYING MEANS EMBEDDED IN THE INTERIOR SURFACE OF SAID BASE AND HAVING AN ANNULAR ANVIL-LIKE RIGID METAL SURFACE EXPOSED FOR METAL-TO-METAL CONTACT WITH THE STRIKING SURFACE OF SAID HEAD, THE INNER CONTACT WITH THE OF SAID ANNULAR ANVIL-LIKE SURFACE BEING SPACED RADIALLY OUTWARD FROM THE INNER PERIPHERAL EDGE OF THE ANNULUS DEFINING SAID ANNULAR BASE. 